Empowering the Village to Raise the Child:

If you know ICRI, you know that one birthday party simply wouldn’t be enough for us!  While the party at the World Forum gave us the chance to celebrate with some of our partners from around the globe, it was just as important to commemorate the occasion back in our home base of Northern California.

Over the past 30 years, ICRI has developed or operated programs in over 50 countries around the globe.  Throughout all these exciting initiatives, our incredibly committed headquarters staff have been the bedrock of the organization.

ICRI is remarkably blessed to have such a talented, diverse, and loyal team.  While our organization is truly an international one, we have deep roots in every local community where we work—and especially deep roots here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Without this incredible “root system,” ICRI would never have been able to grow in the way it has over the past three decades.  And we would not have been able to serve a fraction of the many children and families who have benefited from ICRI programs.

Our second 30^th anniversary party was an opportunity to gather together ICRI’s incredible local staff, Board, volunteers, and supporters to celebrate all that we have achieved together in the past 30 years.  It was also an opportunity to pause, reflect, and dream about all that is possible as we all move forward together into ICRI’s next 30 years– and beyond.

The celebrations have begun!  We are so proud and excited to be celebrating ICRI’s 30^th anniversary.  We have now spent three decades improving the lives of children and families around the world.

At the 2011 World Forum on Early Care and Education in Honolulu, we had the rare and wonderful opportunity to celebrate this important milestone with many of our international staff, partners and friends who have supported the organization over the years.

Speakers included Ken Jaffe and Erin O’Donohue from our headquarters, ICRI Board Chair Stephanie Hill, Janet Mwitiki from ICRI Africa, Mukunda Kshetree and Dhirendra Lamsal from ICRI Nepal, and Rufaro Kangai Sibanda from Child Resource Institute Zimbabwe.

We were also honored by brief remarks from Roger Neugebauer, founder of the World Forum.  Roger spoke about ICRI’s long-term support of the World Forum and the important partnership between our two organizations.

Our guests enjoyed a Hawaiian-style coconut and guava birthday cake with a giant chocolate replica of ICRI’s logo.  The cake was sweet indeed– but even sweeter was the knowledge that our combined efforts over the past 30 years have made a tangible difference to so many children and families in need.